New Blockchain venture fund worth $50 million solely for startups

The world’s biggest cryptocurrency wallet company, Blockchain.com, is planning to raise a venture capital fund worth $50 million that will focus on startups. To top it all, it will be headed by Blockchain’s very own Sam Harrison.

Harrison has a prolific career before he began his latest sting in Blockchain. Prior to that, he was with Naspers Ventures. Being a Blockchain Ventures co-founder, he is also actively involved in other various Blockchain Ventures interests such as DappRadar, Coindirect, and many more.

With this startup venture fund, Blockchain is focusing on diversifying its revenue sources, which are currently highly dependent on advertisements. As per estimates, the company generates six-figure monthly revenue from advertisement alone.

In July 2019, a cryptocurrency exchange named ‘The Pit’ was launched by Blockchain. Its USP is its speed since it features a ‘microsecond’ matching engine instead of the ‘millisecond’ one which is the industry standard. That being said, most industry insiders claim that high speed isn’t a make-or-break factor while trading/investing.

Blockchain venture fund will only consolidate its top position

Series A funding round saw the company add $30.5 million. Later in 2017, Series B funding added further $40 million to the company’s books. This new venture will further help it consolidate its position by tapping into the startups’ realm.

It is worth noting that the firm hasn’t tasted success every time. Blockchain’s airdrops business in 2018 didn’t quite take off. It joined hands with Stellar Development Foundation in a plan that included dropping Stellar Lumens (XLM) of $125 million in value-free to the customers of Blockchain.

Though the idea didn’t work back then, the company can boast of building a sold ‘airdrops framework’ that features ‘foundation principles’ and detailed execution with respect to planning, design and legal and financial rationals.

Only time will tell how this new blockchain venture fund will power the company’s future revenue plans and how the crypto industry’s oldest firm will carve out its niche despite the fierce competition.

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About The Author

Gurpreet Thind is pursuing Masters in Electrical Engineering at University of Ottawa. His scholarly interests include IT, computer languages and cryptocurrencies. With a special interest in blockchain powered architectures, he seeks to explore the societal impact of digital currencies as finance of the future. He is passionate about learning new languages, cultures and social media.